I’m back to the lowly piece of PVC pipe I talked about yesterday. The purpose of it is to allow water to flow from one area to another. But what if the pipe is clogged with mud, gravel, and other junk? The flow slowly decreases to a trickle, and then stops all together. The same goes for the living water flowing out of us…if we’re “clogged up” with unresolved hurts, fears, and sins of the flesh, the Holy Spirit will be unable to flow through us, and our influence on others will languish. If the irrigation water isn’t able to flow freely, all the crops will wither and die…if the Holy Spirit can’t flow freely through us, those around us will also despair.
Month: February 2014
II Corinthians 4:7 ” But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”
Pride loves to sneak in when we start thinking that all the wonderful things God is doing through us is somehow of our own making. Many years ago the Lord gave me this visual aide for times when I was thinking much greater of myself than I should. The picture was of an old, banged-up piece of PVC pipe. Inexpensive plastic pipe, PVC is used mainly to channel water from one area to another…it’s purpose is simple, but what it allows is very important. Like that PVC pipe , we are merely to be the conduit by which the Lord’s almighty power can flow. To be used of God, we are to be holy, useful,and prepared to do any good work for Him.(Isaiah 64:8). The function of PVC pipe is simple and humble…just as we should be.
Matthew 7: 21-23 ” Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, drive out demons, and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!’ “
Intimacy with Jesus is the key in knowing Him not just intellectually, but experimentally. The term intimacy literally means “in to me you see”. This close personal relationship with the Lord comes about only by much study and experience… and like any other cherished, intimate relationship we have, it needs to be nurtured and cared for. This means we need to spend time daily in the Bible, reading God’s love letters to us. We need to be praying and in constant conversation with Him to know His heart. Nothing kills a relationship faster than lack of communication, and the same holds for our relationship with the Lord.
I Samuel 10: 5-6 ” After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine out post. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes, and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”
The prophet Samuel had anointed Saul to be King, but in Saul’s eyes he was anything but King material. Low self-esteem can cause many of us to lose sight of the greatness and potential that God Himself has placed in us. But Samuel perceived the hidden treasure in Saul’s heart, because God had allowed Samuel to see Saul through His eyes. Samuel nurtured and encouraged this secret treasure by giving Saul many details of his encounter with the company of prophets, culminating with the most important detail…then the Spirit of God will anoint,empower, and change you from the inside out Saul.
Jeremiah 33:3 ” Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
God truly desires that His people know His heart, plans,and thoughts for them. When we call upon the name of the Lord, He will reveal and bring to light those things unknown… and in doing so, we will then gain His perspective for us. You can compare this to chickens and eagles. Chickens are flightless birds who spend most of their lives looking down at the ground…while eagles soar high above in the sky. To the chickens, their perspective is very small and limited…while to the eagles, their perspective is limitless and vast. While we may see ourselves as chickens scratching in the dirt, God sees our awesome potential soaring high in the sky.
John 14: 12 ” I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”
So what are these “things” we are to be doing? Jesus spoke healing into sick bodies, He spoke words of encouragement into the brokenhearted, He spoke admonishment into the prideful and stubborn….but most of all, Jesus spoke the hidden potential…the secret treasures into the lives of the lost. But it doesn’t stop there…He says that we are to do GREATER things than these, because He has returned to the right hand of the Father to intercede on our behalf. And when we pray in the name of Jesus, whatever is in keeping with His character and purpose will happen.
Jeremiah 31: 35 ” This is what the Lord says, He who appoints the sun to shine by day, Who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar – the Lord Almighty is His name.
Night turns day…the sun rises and sets…seasons follow each other, these laws of nature from God are permanently binding forever according to His promise and His Word. He has set boundaries for the waves, a path for the sun, and illumination for the starry heavens. He is the Lord Almighty.
John 4:50 ” Jesus replied, ‘ You may go. Your son will live.’ The man took Jesus at His word and departed.”
Jesus healed in many ways. Here, He did not even see or touch the royal official’s son…He just spoke life into his dying body. But it’s what the father did that was truly amazing – he believed Jesus. No demanding of proof…no questioning of methods – he simply took Jesus at His word that his boy would be healed, and headed home. So when he met his servants on the way back, hearing that his son was alive and well, he inquired as to the exact time it had happened. “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” At that moment, he knew that he knew, Jesus was the Messiah…and it says that the entire household put their faith in Christ.
Ecclesiastes 10:1 ” As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.”
A person may go on for years doing the right thing…and never be noticed. But one act of indiscretion, one lapse of judgment, and suddenly they are known internationally…for all the wrong reasons.
Romans 10: 14-15 ” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘ How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ “
If when you read these verses your breath quickens and you feel a longing…you probably have a heart for missions… You might even feel called to the mission field. There is nothing more honorable than to be called and sent out as an Ambassador for Christ Jesus…preaching the gospel to the world. But look around…your mission field is also in your midst . Everyday the Lord brings hurting people across your path that need to hear about Jesus and His love for them. God wants us all to be missionaries proclaiming His gospel to the lost.
Safetypinlove 